The details were still hazy, but Rogue supplied everything she could that she had gathered from Sole's mind, regardless of how insignificant it seemed. Remy added his own input and accounts while Bobby rattled off his observations the day of the riot. Between the three of them, Logan was able to come up with some semblance of action to what they knew for sure was going on.

Mutants were being kidnapped and sold into slavery on the black market. Other than for money, the purpose was still unknown. It was also unknown as to who was actually buying mutants and what was happening to the ones who had already been sold.

They were left with few leads to follow now that Ransome Sole was dead. He had been Remy's only connection to the slave trade. Marie wracked her brain for anything that might help them pick up the trail. Other than investigating New York's lower east end and questioning the inhabitants there, Rogue had come up short, except…

It was probably nothing, but the image of an abandoned base amongst the swirling cold kept popping into her head. It was much different from Stryker's base in the cold of Northern Canada. This location was colder, more remote and above ground in plain view for any who knew it was there. Where in the world would something like that be? She puzzled over the many locations that such a place could exist when her subconscious, or rather Sole's, answered for her.

"Antarctica," she whispered aloud.

Remy stopped whatever he was saying in mid sentence and simply answered, "That's one corner of the globe I haven't checked out. Never had a reason to."

"Whatever was there is gone," Marie replied, turning to Logan with pleading eyes. "But maybe someone left us something to follow from there in the remnants."

"You're sure, Marie?" Logan asked carefully, already knowing that she was rarely wrong with these sorts of things.

She nodded firmly.

"Alright, you and Bobby can go check it out and Remy and I will investigate the lower east end. I have a hunch we'll get more from that location than an abandoned base at the bottom of the globe."

"I want to go to the lower east end," Bobby objected. "What good is my ice mutation in a place that's already frozen? Rogue should have someone with a useful mutation with her in case there's trouble."

"I don't know…" Logan interjected.

"Besides, Logan, a baby face like mine is much more likely to get past stubborn doors. You and Remy both look—well, no offense, but you both look shady. These mutants are scared. They aren't going to be willing to open their doors to you and answer questions."

"He is rather non-threatening," Remy agreed, tilting his head to the side, sizing Bobby up. "Those baby blues and that clean-cut demeanor hardly seem suspicious. Bobby and I could check out the east end."

"No." Logan argued. "There's a greater chance that something will go down in the city and I want to be part of that—"

"But—"

"No buts, kid, you wanted my help, you'll get it so long as you play by my rules."

Remy, Bobby and Logan continued to argue about the teams while Marie sat silently with crossed arms. It was a little offending knowing that they were fighting over who had to go with her, like she was some unwanted kid sister who just had to tag along.

Boys, she rolled her eyes, they just had to be part of the action.

"Oh for Pete's sake!" she snapped irritably. "I'll go by myself and the three of you can go check out the east end. "You're right, there's probably nothing in Antarctica anyway. I'll be fine."

"Remy, you should go with her," Bobby suggested after a moment of silence. "You've had the most experience with the kidnappers so you'd be more likely to pick up on any clues they've left behind."

Marie felt her eyes narrow into a glare as she watched the hesitance and unease play across Remy's face. She could just tell that he was trying to think of a way to weasel out of going with her and it hurt. They had agreed to be friends, and hours later here was Remy trying to ditch her.

Some friend. She huffed silently.

Then Remy said something odd to Bobby. "You're sure that's okay, mon ami?"

"Yeah, why wouldn't it be?" Bobby replied a little confused.

"We'd be gone a few days and—"

Bobby's laughter cut Remy off. "Of course I'll miss her, but it's not like I'll never see her again! I mean you are going to bring her back, right?" Bobby joked warmly while slapping Remy on the back.

"I wouldn't dream of stealing her away, as tempting as that might be," Remy answered back with what Marie thought was forced laughter.

She didn't get it. Why was Remy so concerned about being alone with her? It's not like he had feelings for her. If he did, she'd given him plenty of opportunities to make a move last night. He hadn't, instead he'd made it very clear that they were nothing more than friends.

Maybe Remy felt that she was incompetent or less adequate a partner than one of the guys. She hadn't really given him any proof that she was more than just an erratic damsel in distress yesterday at the riot. Hadn't she done nothing but panic and shriek like a typical stereotyped female? She hadn't kept her cool and gallantly saved a bunch of scared little kids like Bobby or had Logan's unbridled rage and ability to just act on impulse. She hadn't really shown any of her merit at all in battle except for taking down Sole and some of his men.

The more she studied Remy and his obvious uneasiness about being paired with her, the more she believed that he thought he'd have to baby-sit and protect her from danger.

Marie squared her shoulders stiffly. She'd prove him wrong. She was more than capable of looking after herself. She was an X-man, a title she'd more than earned and displayed countless times over. By the time she was finished in Antarctica, she vowed Remy would have a changed opinion of her.

"If we're finished here, Logan, I'd like to start packing," Marie stated fiercely. "It's going to be a long trip and I'd like to be as prepared as possible."

"Of course," Logan replied a little bemused by her determined attitude. "The sooner the better. After all, our Cajun has an expiry date."

Remy gave a faint, half smile as both Logan and Marie excused themselves from the room. His nerves were officially shot. He'd be alone with Marie for God only knew how long. Alone and isolated. He hardly trusted himself in such a situation with her, but apparently Bobby did. He'd been put between a rock and a hard place and for the first time had no ideas, short of telling Bobby the truth, on how to get out of his predicament.

A hand clamped down briskly on his shoulder and Remy actually jumped.

"You alright?" Bobby asked removing his hand from Remy's shoulder in concern. "You seem kinda nervous."

"Yeah," Remy lied absently while rubbing the back of his neck. He wondered just how much he should actually tell Bobby about the situation. "I'm just a little apprehensive, is all. I mean, are you sure it's all right that I go with Marie? Wouldn't you feel better being with her?"

It was the best Remy could do without flat out telling Bobby that he seriously didn't trust himself around Bobby's girl.

Bobby completely missed what Remy was getting at.

"Oh come on now," Bobby reassured, mistaking Remy's concerns. "There's nothing to be anxious about. I know she may seem a little intimidating and abrasive at times, but trust me—Marie likes you. She's just not very good at showing it sometimes."

Remy opened his mouth to object, but Bobby continued on.

"When you get to know Marie like I do, you'll see that she's hardly as scary as she sometimes lets on. You'll be fine with her."

"You're not the least bit concerned about me being alone with your girlfriend?" Remy blurted out completely flabbergasted.

Bobby laughed so loudly that Remy felt as though Bobby was poking fun at him, like the idea of Remy seducing Marie was so farfetched and preposterous that it could only be laughed at.

"She's my best friend in the whole world. I know her better than I know anyone. There's nothing there you need to worry about." Bobby's smile was so matter-of-fact that even Remy had a hard time not believing him. "I think it'll be good for you two. Marie always thinks that I'm the one that has trouble making friends, but she doesn't realize that she's the one that has a harder time trusting people."

All Remy could do was nod slowly in agreement. It was clear that he was getting absolutely nowhere with Bobby and he had no desire to tell him that he wanted Marie and that was what was really concerning him.

"You two will be a great team," Bobby finished, once again patting Remy on the back.

Remy ignored the feeling that he had somehow been roped into a pep talk rather than a 'stay away from my girl' threat like he had expected. But then, Bobby was so unlike any guy Remy had ever met. The guy did have unbelievable, naïve trust issues and strangely it was a quality that Remy was sort of envious of.

He wondered what it was like to go through the world trusting people openly and absolutely. It was no wonder Marie worried about Bobby. The guy was actually too good to be true, like his niceness was a handicap or something that stopped him from seeing the world the way it really was; bitter, petty and dishonest.

It only strengthened Remy's resolve to keep away from Marie. He didn't want to shatter Bobby's view of the world. In fact, he had a fierce desire to prove Bobby's view right. That people were good, were decent and stayed honest. Despite his best efforts, he was quickly becoming wrapped up in Bobby's optimism and utopia view of things.

It was nice for a change. Suddenly, he wasn't so worried about being alone with Marie. If Bobby had unfailing trust in him, then so should he. And maybe Bobby was right; maybe he would be good for Marie. She was naturally suspicious of people, just as he was but perhaps together they could change that. Perhaps with Bobby's encouragement and faith in him, Remy could be one of the X-men and do something grander with his life.

It was an interesting idea. One that had a quicker hold on him than his usual ideas.

"Is it just me, or is there something going on with you?" Logan asked as he hung his arms over her doorframe, watching her pack. Rogue turned her gaze towards Logan. Sometimes she hated just how observant he was. Especially when he knew something was automatically up.

"I'm fine, Logan," she replied, giving him her standard answer.

"You don't look fine. You look twitchy and nervous with a touch of royally pissed off. Couldn't have anything to do with a certain new addition to the team?" Logan grinned and Rogue felt like slapping him. She hated that even if she denied it, Logan would know she was lying. Like a troublesome older brother hell bent on looking after her, Logan always knew what was bothering her.

"So what if it is?" she answered back hotly while throwing thermal underwear into her bag.

Logan gave a low whistle. "I get it. You're jealous."

Marie looked up at him in complete shock. This time Logan had not only missed the mark, but was way off target!

"Jealous?" she repeated incredulously.

"Bobby's got a new friend and you're feeling a little left out, aren't you?"

"Sure, Logan," Marie replied drolly, preferring to keep Logan in the dark as to what was really going on.

"It's not a bad thing, you know. You're still Bobby's number one, and I can't help but think that this might be good for you."

"Excuse me?" Marie asked, now offended.

"It's about time you started going on missions with other teammates, and don't deny it. You always go with Bobby."

"He needs me," Marie began to argue.

Logan sighed. "See, that's where I think you're wrong. I think you've got it backwards, Marie."

"What are you saying?" she accused, not liking where Logan was taking this conversation. He was dredging up things she wasn't sure she wanted to hear.

"I'm saying that I think you rely too much on Bobby. You're always going on about how Bobby has distanced himself from everyone, but when was the last time you did anything with someone other than him?"

"I—" Marie began to answer and stopped. She had no answer for Logan. Try as she might, she couldn't remember the last time she'd gone shopping with Jubilee or played billiards with Warren. She had been so wrapped up in protecting Bobby that she'd isolated herself from everyone but him.

"Exactly," Logan replied with a knowing look. "Play nice this round, make a new friend. Open yourself up to the possibility that maybe Bobby can survive a mission without you."

"Wait a minute!" Marie shot back, not ready to let Logan win this argument. "You were the one who put Bobby and I together in the first place!"

"Just didn't have it in me to have this talk so soon." Logan shrugged. "Note that Bobby was the one to object to the arrangement."

Marie had nothing to say. Logan reached over and gave her brief, gruff hug.

"Like I said, it doesn't mean you're not his number one—it just means he's ready to expand his horizons a bit."

There was a bitter taste in her mouth when Logan left. She continued to pack feverously, trying to decide whether Logan was as far off his mark as she'd originally thought.

Logan may have missed her attraction to Remy, but he'd unearthed things she had never really given much thought to. Sure, she could admit that she had lost touch with her other teammates, but she thought that Remy was hardly the place to start in terms of getting back into the social circle.

For starters, she was annoyed with him and his pathetic attempts to avoid going on this mission with her, and that wasn't even broaching the subject on how her body came sinfully alive whenever he seemed to be nearby. She almost couldn't believe that even Bobby, who was always so steady and true had brushed her off, dropping her straight into Remy's lap without so much as a thought as to what he was really doing.

But then, how could he know? It wasn't like she'd broadcasted to world exactly how Remy made her feel. Right now, however, Remy had her feeling pretty surly. Add Bobby and Logan on top of that and she was ready to call the whole mission off and wait for Storm to return with the others and pick an entirely new team to work with.

She knew that wouldn't be happening, and she knew she was resigned to traveling with Remy. Not that it mattered. It wasn't like she was going to encourage anything to happen while they were alone. She continued packing, actually happy to be ticked off at him. It would make her trip much easier, at least to cope with being alone with him. If she remained angry with him there was less of a chance that she'd do something unforgivable.